Hopefully, by now, you have ALL heard about the “Dinner with Robert Irvine” online event. If not, please click this link and familiarize yourself with the event!

Regardless, everyone who has signed up should now have the ingredient list, but no one knows what two dishes we will be cooking and enjoying together. So I decided to turn it into a contest to see who can guess, based on the ingredients listed below. The first 5 people to guess ONE of the dishes the closest will win a FREE ticket to the show. Post your guesses in the comment section below!

Remember! This is an ingredient list for two dishes. You only have to get as close to guessing ONE as you can. Good luck!!! I will announce the winners in a couple of days.

The Ingredients:

• 8 oz.pork tenderloin
• 4 large shrimp (21/25 count, peeled and deveined) substitute: 4oz boneless chicken breast
• 2 oz slab bacon – cubed substitute: thick cut, strips
• 2 oz stone ground mustard substitute: brown mustard NOT YELLOW
• 2 oz white balsamic vinegar substitute: white wine vinegar
• 2 oz unsalted butter
• 1 lg idaho potato
• 1 cup good quality chicken stock
• 6 oz fresh spinach
• 1/4 cup cornmeal
• 1 peach
• 1 red onion
• 4 sprigs flat leaf parsley
• 3 strawberries
• 2 oz malt vinegar
• 6oz grapeseed oil
• salt
• pepper

Having seen a lot in my 30 years in the restaurant business, I’m very selective about companies I choose as partners.  If I’m going to work with a company or endorse their products, it must be a company or product I believe in and a company that aligns with my business principles.

I first learned about Easy Ice in 2011 when they were called to help out on a Restaurant:
Impossible shoot.  I was making over a restaurant called The Chatterbox Cafe and they were badly in need of a reliable ice machine.  Someone on my staff heard about Easy Ice and invited them to help out.

If you watch my program you know how many times I come across disgusting ice machine situations.  Restaurant owners just don’t know how to clean or take care of them and I’ve seen some really gross ice makers!

John Mahlmeister, one of the owners of Easy Ice, was on location with us and explained their unique subscription service for commercial ice machines.  They’re the only company that offers ice machine subscriptions on a national scale and I thought the idea was brilliant. 

Instead of restaurant owners buying or leasing, Easy Ice buys the ice machines for it’s customers and maintains them for a fair monthly cost.  Outsourcing your ice machine is common sense!  What Easy Ice is doing fits in perfectly with my beliefs and what I’ve been telling restaurant owners for years:  

• Spend money where you can make money

• Produce an excellent product

• Smart decisions = monetary gains

• Surround yourself with skilled people

• Understand your customers

• Master the basics of your business, including budgeting properly

The way Easy Ice has set up their ice machine subscriptions aligns well with my management principles.  Smart choice.  I’m not wasting money on something that can’t generate revenue.  Easy Ice surrounds my business with their expertise.  They help me deliver a quality product.  And they meet my requirements of predictable budgeting.

Over the next year, I’ll be talking to you through this blog and videos about restaurant management, equipment, menus, recipes and more.  Oh, and I’ll be giving you my opinion and experience around commercial ice machines, of course!

I’m happy to be a part of Team Easy Ice.  Follow along and add a little “coolness” to your life!

Check out this video slideshow of all my various appearances at Sobe Wine and Food Fest. This is an amazing festival that everyone should try and attend at least once!

Update: I hit 100,000 fans!! Thanks everyone for the retweets and support.

I am only 650 people away from having 100,000 followers on twitter. To thank all of the wonderful fans who have supported me up to this milestone, I want to give out some gifts. I have autographed cookbooks, shirts, magnets, and an assortment of other things that I will award to twitter followers of my choosing.

These are the followers I want to reward:

• Retweet Stars – those who RT a lot
• Early Adopters – first followers
• Something to Say – contributing to the conversation
• Hashtag Heroes – using the #restaurantimpossible hashtag
• Baby Birds – new twitter followers

Here’s the Catch

I have to get to 100,000 followers first. Maybe you can help? Maybe if you do, you might get a nice thank you gift for doing so! Thanks again for everyone’s support. I really do have the best fans anyone can ask for.

Since the recent announcement of my relationship with Sysco, a few misconceptions have been volleyed among just a few of my followers. Rather than ignore them, I’d prefer to set the record straight:  Sysco is one of the best — and largest — distributors of fresh and wholesome food-service ingredients in the United States. Period.

This isn’t hype or shameless marketing. Instead, it reflects 15 years of my own personal, first-hand experience with Sysco in the kitchens that I have operated and in my own restaurants. 

I can always count on Sysco to provide superb produce, fresh-catch seafood, an excellent selection of meats, and a vast array of other choice ingredients — all while keeping food safety and sustainability a top priority. (Speaking of sustainability, see for yourself Sysco’s commitment to our collective futures in Sysco’s 2012 Sustainability Report.)

Let’s also address the fresh vs. frozen dilemma. On ‘Restaurant: Impossible’, I emphasize that restaurants should use fresh ingredients on their menus. No doubt, the freshest ingredients make the best meals. Certainly, frozen products are necessary, and my main outrage on the show has been against restaurants whose menus solely rely on frozen, canned, and processed items. Fact is, when prepared properly, (and by prepared I mean the actions of the manufacturer and the cook) a quality frozen item can oftentimes taste every bit as good and be just as healthy as a fresh item. And, just as their competitors do, Sysco offers restaurants and operators numerous frozen-item choices; however, the difference, based on my experience, is that Sysco’s quality is second to none.

A big reason why I entered into this relationship is simply to help restaurant owners realize that Sysco is hands down the best when it comes to fresh, safe and reliable foods products. Those are the basic ingredients for outstanding meals, for great dining experiences, and for a restaurant’s ability to succeed.

So, next time you hear some ill-informed soul complaining about the food coming off the back of a Sysco truck, I have two words for you: Be thankful! Sysco is the best in the business… it’s true when they say, “Good Things Come From Sysco.”

Check out these photos from the Mohegan Sun Winefest! I had such a great time meeting everybody there. The first photos are from my cooking demo and the others are from the Grand Tasting later that evening.

I will be back at the Mohegan Sun on March 23rd for the Make-a-Wish Connecticut Evening of Wishes Gala event. If you are in this wonderful event, you can learn more and find out about tickets by clicking this link.